Pull List: Comics Coming Out 1/23/12

It’s a somewhat slow week this week, but we’ve got reviews of DC and Valiant books, and a few number ones as well.

DC wraps up Blue Beetle, which we previewed last week, and also has the last issue of Minutemen. There’s also more Wonder Woman, Fables, Green Lantern, and the next-to-last issue of Hellblazer.

Marvel rolls out Uncanny X-Force and Young Avengers, and continues Punisher: Nightmare. They’ve also got more FF and a Marvel Masterworks collecting Doctor Strange.

Image has more Revival, Prophet, Bedlam, Chew, and Witch Doctor.

Dark Horse wraps up its Spike miniseries, launches The Answer, and has more of The Massive.

IDW has more Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Secret History of The Foot Clan, a book more than a few of you are recommending, launches Star Trek: Countdown To Darkness, Mars Attacks Transformers, more Judge Dredd, and apparently their My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic book has yet another printing.

And Boom! has more Peanuts and Steed and Mrs. Peel, and finishes up its latest Hellraiser mini.

And now for a few reviews!

Rise Of The Third ArmyGreen Lantern #16Green Lantern Corps #16

Simon Baz is pretty rapidly earning the ring, and we don’t mean that in a plot sense. In a lot of ways, Green Lantern #16 makes clear what Geoff Johns is building towards with Baz: A character with Hal Jordan’s determination, but far, far less optimism in his ring. If Hal Jordan is all about the joy of being a test pilot and flying among the stars, Simon Baz is about dealing with the realities on the ground.

Similarly, Peter Tomasi is doing a great job of explaining why Guy Gardner wasn’t retconned out of existence. Gardner can be an annoying character in the wrong hands, but here, he’s a lot of fun and Tomasi pairs Gardner and Baz off quite well.

Also, as an admitted funny-animal hater, B’dg is a lot more fun than a smug squirrel that talks like Spock should be. If you’re not following these books, they’re worth picking up.

The New Deadwardians

Dan Abnett’s cleverly done supernatural murder mystery gets a trade paperback. The series is often described as “zombie Downton Abbey“, but in truth it owes a lot more to noir. Abnett’s plot is full of twists and turns, but it’s also a vividly rendered character study of Chief Inspector Suttle, a vampire driven simultaneously by a profound distaste with his own lack of humanity and a sense of duty towards the British Empire. I.N.J. Culbard’s spare art compliments the story well; it offers a degree of gore that’s matter-of-fact without being lurid, realistic without being beholden entirely to historical detail.

In short, it’s a great book from Vertigo, and it deserves a wider audience. If you’ve got room in your budget, pick up a copy.

Harbinger #8

Joshua Dysart’s run on Harbinger has been off-and-on to some degree, fairly similar to other books about misfit teenager superheroes. This issue stands out a bit because Dysart gets to explore the macho fantasy world of a bed-ridden teenager as part of the plot, supported by Lee Garbett’s solid art, and it’s by turn hilarious and a bit painful. You might find a bit of yourself in this issue.

X-O Manowar #9

Robert Venditti writes a comic book where an ancient Roman warrior accesses the private Internet of an alien race and then fights a bunch of aliens in New York. Granted this issue will have more weight if you’ve been following the book closely, but there’s nothing quite like an old-fashioned alien ass-kicking.

I’m cutting Avengers from my pull list for a few months. His books, in my opinion, are better marathoned after a story arc or two is out. Also, the digital store’s prices go down by at least $1 after a month or two. Wonder Woman however is must read.

I see what you mean with Avengers, but he seems to have a pretty great formula here. That first 3-issue run was a great little introductory story. Plus, they’re releasing Avengers bi-weekly, or they should be. The wait for number 3 seemed longer, but I’m sure they’ll get back on track shortly. I find books like Avengers to be the best ones to read as they come out, not too complex or character driven, cool pages with cool ideas. I hope this doesn’t drain Hickman too much, he has yet to deliver anything short of awesome in my opinion.

Books like Saga, on the other hand, drive me crazy waiting month to month for.

I’ve been making a point to pick up every Image #1 and at least give it a try, are there other publishers releasing inventive first issues on a regular basis that I should check out?

As far as buying strategies, I’m a bit torn because trades, while useful, are expensive and honestly, it really varies from company to company. DC puts them out like clockwork, Marvel puts them out when they feel like it or when a new movie is coming out, Image puts them out generally three to six months after an arc wraps, and Dark Horse will just put them in a digital bundle, cut about five to six bucks off the price of buying issues individually, and sell ’em digitally.

Dan, the reason I call it the week of pain is that I’m broke. I’m currently in a weird financial flux as I transition between health insurance companies. And I’ve been trying to stop $40 weeks like this but I love Marvel and theirs is a schedule I cannot predict like DC’s or Valiant’s. Oh, well. Nature of the beast. :)

MulliganNY, you’ll be waiting for a while then if you are waiting for Marvel to drop prices on new releases at Comixology, because Marvel tends to wait several months after an arc is done to drop them to $2/issue (no matter what). It took like a year after it began in order for Iron Man #510-515 to go down in price.

I loved New Deadwardians. It could have easily fit in the BPRD universe, in tone and art. I was hoping Saucer Country (also from the Vertigo revival) would be as good, but alas… Still, if Vertigo is to be shuttered up, at least it went out with quality

Whoa, whoa, Vertigo isn’t going anywhere. Seeing a few major changes, yes. ‘Sweet Tooth’ and ‘Hellblazer’ wrapping up are big deals, but Fables is still going strong (and is pretty much its own little franchise), The Unwritten and American Vampire aren’t going anywhere, and it’s unlikely they don’t have other books in the pipe.

I don’t know if I’m the only one here still reading Batwoman, and that’s ok. But there are always 2 things that jump out at me with each issue.

1) Nobody – but NOBODY – does a 2-page splash like Williams III. Sometimes I think they’re overused but he can use them as often as he wants, I can’t get enough.
2) All the ads are at the end. I LOVE that. I flip the page and hey, it’s more comics instead of a distracting commercial. It’s the little things, I guess.